Plans to dismantle the former St. Gerard’s Catholic Church building on Buffalo’s East Side and relocate it to a parish in Georgia have gotten off to a bumpy start.

According to representatives from both the Diocese of Buffalo and the Archdiocese of Atlanta, a 7-foot, 1,600-pound statue of St. Gerard from the the Buffalo church arrived in its new home in Mary Our Queen Catholic Church in Norcross, Ga., in two pieces.

The statue was damaged in transit, with the head broken off at the neck, Patricia Chivers, spokeswoman from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, said Sunday night.

“It is in the church, on a stand by the front door, with the head next to it until they start restoring it,” she said.

In spite of concern that the church was already being dismantled, Chivers said, the statue and a Paschal candle are the only items moved from the church so far.

“They wanted to have the candle for Easter service at St. Mary’s,” she said.

When asked whether the church is ready to be dismantled and moved, Chivers said that the project is still in the fundraising stage.

Kevin A. Keenan, spokesman for the Buffalo Diocese, said Sunday night that the statue and the candle are on loan to St. Mary’s. They were shipped during the week of March 21 to raise interest and awareness of the project, he said.

“Once they move ahead and the church is rebuilt, they will be part of the church,” he said.

Supporters said they have raised more than $3 million for the project, which is expected to cost about $15 million.

Buffalo Common Council President David A. Franczyk said Sunday that the broken statue is “very symbolic.”

“I think St. Gerard is resisting the move,” he said. “They should take that as a sign and stop it.”

Franczyk, who is part of a group of lawmakers opposed to the plan to take the St. Gerard’s building apart and ship it 900 miles to St. Mary’s, said he would look into whether the church had a permit to move any part of the property. “I’m opposed to that kind of poaching,” he said.”

Keenan said the church does not need a permit to remove the items. “You can remove interior statues,” he said.

The overall project, Keenan said, “won’t move forward until they have all their funding in place.”